PreDest 3: Eyes of Light
by Twin-Swords
Summary: PreDestined Story 3. ChrisWyattcentric. Valentine's Day is coming up and in the midst of this Chris and Wyatt are trapped in the school trying to figure out who or what they're up against... before the school day ends.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: _strikermac_ and I don't own Charmed or Chris and Wyatt Halliwell. We just like writing about them…

**Author's Note**: This has been posted up at the "Destined" boards for a while now, but at last, here I go releasing it on _fanfiction_ for those of you who have been patiently waiting. I hope that you enjoy the third story in the Pre-Destined series. As always, please read and review!

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**Chapter One**

"No, not there, _there_," seventeen-year-old Caitlin Sweeny directed the sophomore boy with the spiky black hair. She sighed in exasperation as he still got it wrong. If you wanted something done right, you just had to do it yourself. The dark-haired girl stood up, snatching the photos from his hand, and grumbled at him, "For heaven's sake Hayden, I'll do it. Why don't you go count paper clips or something equally useless?"

Wyatt Halliwell looked up from one of the three computer terminals in the high school's newsroom with a smile, exchanging a look with Jessica Duncan who sat at the computer next to him. Thursdays were usually like this. It wouldn't be Thursday without Cait on a rampage to make sure that week's paper got out on time for Friday morning and looked absolutely perfect. Caitlin was laid back and easy going about everything except the school paper. With that, she was the biggest control freak Wyatt had ever met.

Jessie covered her mouth to hold back a laugh as Hayden put his hands on his hips and stared at his older sister. That was a weekly occurrence too. Every week it seemed, Hayden did something that set his sister off. Caitlin was the editor of the school newspaper and she took it as seriously as if she was working for the New York Times rather than the Baker High Bugle. Cait was rearranging the photo spread on the light board herself now, oblivious to anyone else in the room. Which included the glaring fifteen-year-old in front of her.

"I'm not going to count paper clips Cait! Arranging the photo spread is _my_ job!" Hayden complained.

"Shhhhh!" Caitlin hissed at him.

"You can't do everything yourself. Give me something to do! I didn't join the paper to twiddle my thumbs and get a free credit hour," the sophomore said, shoving at his sister. Caitlin swatted him away without looking up from what she was doing.

Jessica patted Wyatt's arm and grabbed one of the digital cameras. She was trying her best not to laugh at the show the siblings were putting on. Wyatt smirked and turned his eyes back to his computer screen, while Jessica offered up, "Hayden, you can go take pictures of the drama club getting ready for the singing telegrams."

"Chris did that yesterday," Hayden grumbled, gesturing to the pictures that his sister was now holding in her hands, "And I was supposed to start on the layout, but somebody won't let me touch anything."

"You'll screw it up," Caitlin pronounced.

"No he won't. Give him a chance Cait. He needs to learn how to some of this stuff, the three of us are graduating this year," Jess said, standing up and walking over to attempt to intervene.

"I know, but this is going in my portfolio!" Caitlin said, brushing her dark tresses away from her face.

Wyatt smiled at his friend, "You aren't the only one whose portfolio it's going into Cait. You'd let Chris do it..."

"Yes, but Chris took the pictures and Chris is a perfectionist. I... Hayden... he... Oh, fine," Caitlin relented, "Here. Take them. I need to work on my article about the over-inflated importance of being a 'couple' and the ridiculous pressure not to be single."

"Thank you," Hayden said, taking the pictures back from his sister. When she turned her back he stuck his tongue out at her.

"I saw that you little brat," Caitlin sneered.

"You're just extra bitter because Valentine's Day is this weekend," Hayden said with a smile, "And you don't have a date."

"Speaking of... a little bird told me that you and Andrea Payton are an official item now," Jess said, leaning towards Wyatt as she said back down. Jessica was short, not even five feet tall, and she dressed like a boy, but her personality was spunky and playful. She raised her eyebrows up and down at Wyatt, "Dating exclusively are you?"

Caitlin blinked, looking towards the pair, "What?" She hadn't heard this bit of news yet, which bothered the budding journalist that she had been scooped. What bothered her more though was the topic of the conversation. She looked from Jessica to Wyatt, then back again between the two.

Wyatt's cheeks flushed with color and he found typing up the cafeteria menu a bit more interesting than he had before. He rubbed a hand through his hair and on the back of his neck, coughing, "No. Not officially exclusive... but we do have a date on Saturday night."

Caitlin stared at the blushing muscular blonde, before she quickly turned to grab a stack of folders and carried them towards the back of the small office, avoiding looking at anyone. It really wasn't any secret that she had a crush on Wyatt. She'd had a crush on him since they were in the first grade. That some girl that had moved here from Boston when they were all in middle school that hadn't known him nearly as long as she had, and had a reputation for being stuck up was now soon to be 'going steady' with Wyatt was a huge blow to her. She did the only thing she could think of. She retreated. Hayden looked toward his sister and rolled his eyes.

Jess bit her lip and made a face when she saw Caitlin's reaction. The short girl groaned softly, "I'm an idiot."

"Hmm?" Wyatt asked, shifting his eyes from his computer screen, he was still blushing, but he had to know why Jess was calling herself an idiot. He'd completely missed the reaction of the other girl.

"Nothing," Jess said, "I'm happy for you Wy."

Caitlin knocked some stuff around in her little back corner area around her desk, cursing and Wyatt raised his eyebrows, "Okay, what's her problem?"

"Green eyed monster," Jessica mumbled.

"Caitlin's eyes are brown," Wyatt said, leaning back in his chair to look towards her. She looked like she was having a meltdown.

"Men," Jess sighed, "Don't worry about---"

Suddenly everything in the room went absolutely silent. Wyatt turned to look at Jess, who was frozen in place, her mouth still open in mid-sentence. Hayden was likewise frozen, holding a photograph up to the light. In the back of the room Caitlin was motionless, as well as the stack of papers she'd just knocked over. Everything in the room was as still as a photograph or a movie on pause. Caitlin's papers were frozen in a cascading arc. Wyatt moistened his lips and looked at his hands. He hadn't done that, had he?

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Christopher Halliwell sat in English class, as good a student he was this class was just downright boring. As the teacher talked about the ancient story, Chris watched the bird's nest out the window and let his mind wander. He was doodling in the margins of his notebook thinking about last weekend and about this upcoming weekend with his grandfather. Last weekend had been beyond stressful and he'd seen more of Stockholm in a blur than he would have wanted to in two days, but a pair of blue-green eyes kept coming back to mind. He'd love to have been able to have the freedom of that bird out there on the windowsill. How he wished he could escape this class right now.

Just then the teacher stopped speaking and initially Chris winced, thinking Mr. Zebrian was going to bust him for daydreaming, again. But as Chris looked up he was frozen, the piece of chalk still poised to finish the word the teacher was writing. Looking around Chris noticed everyone else in the room was frozen too. Caspian, sitting next to him was bent over, as unmoving as a statue as he leaned in his backpack. In harsh contrast to the motionless room, Chris watched the bird fly from the nest just outside the window.

"Hello?" Chris said as not one person answered him. Standing cautiously Chris looked around. He made a little wave with his hands, trying the gesture his mother used to freeze and unfreeze things, but nothing happened. He didn't have that power. He couldn't have done this and he clearly couldn't undo it either. Not a single mote of dust even moved and Chris carefully moved past the frozen classroom to the door and made his way into the hall. He halted in the doorway of his class for a second when he saw the principal at the water fountain, frightened for a second that he was going to have to cover this up quickly and explain why the classroom behind him was immobile. That was when he realized the principal was bent over the water fountain, and both she and the water were frozen.

"Hello?" Chris called out again. He had a ripple of fear that went up his back and looked around, like someone was watching him and he spun around in a circle before he lifted his head to the ceiling and shouted. "Wyatt!"

To his relief, Wyatt appeared in front of him in a shimmer of blue orbs. Chris sighed and grabbed his brother's arms. "Oh thank the heavens, I thought I was alone."

"What the hell happened?" Wyatt looked at the principal with confused fascination. He walked over to the principal and waved a hand in front of the woman's face. Wyatt snapped his fingers in front of her eyes and then backed up, looking worriedly at his brother.

"I'm not sure I was in English and wishing I could orb away and then everything just froze," Chris said.

"I was in the school paper office watching Caitlin have a Valentine's melt down and then nothing. Silence. I don't like this, I don't like this at all," Wyatt said, "Though, now would be a perfect time to tape a 'Kick Me' sign to Mrs. Leadbetter's back."

Chris made a face at Wyatt, and twisted around again as the hairs on the back of his neck rose. The brunette scanned the hallway and moved closer to Wyatt. "Do you feel that? The feeling that someone is watching us?"

"I feel it and I think we should orb home, it's not safe here," Wyatt said, done joking about playing a prank on the principal.

"I'm with you," Chris said. They shimmered into blue orbs, but just as they went to the window the orbs bounced off like they had been hit by an electric volt and the boys fell to the floor. They both tumbled backwards as their bodies reformed from the orbs and lay flat for a heartbeat.

"Damn it," Wyatt cursed as he pushed himself up off of the floor and looked around.

"I'm sufficiently freaked out now." Chris said as he picked himself up, rubbing the back of his head. "We're sitting ducks here, Wy."

"I know," the older teen said. He didn't like the situation. He didn't like when situations were out of his control. The entire school frozen unexplainably and some sort of force field preventing them from orbing was definitely beyond the Twice Blessed Witch's control.

"Maybe if we open the window," the younger teen suggested. Chris walked over and touched the window, ready to open it. He had both of his hands on the bottom of the sill when an electrical current in the oddest shade of green blasted him and threw him down the hall. He tumbled to a stop and lay still, making Wyatt run to his downed brother.

"Chris! Chris?" Wyatt yelled as he got closer and knelt next to him.

"I'm okay," Chris said as he rubbed his eyes but other than that, he didn't move. He stayed laying on his back. Slowly he pushed himself to a sitting position, still rubbing at his eyes.

"You're not fine." Wyatt said as he watched Chris' hands shaking. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, ready to help him up.

"Just a bit shaky, give me a minute." Chris rubbed his eyes as his eyes swam with different color lights, making everything seem dark and shady. Chris let Wyatt help him to his feet, Wyatt held his arm, not quite convinced that he was okay. Chris looked over Wyatt's shoulder to see a quartet of glowing figures heading toward them. "Go! Run!" Chris ran down the hall followed by Wyatt. When Chris staggered and leaned against the wall Wyatt grabbed his arm and pulled him into the locker room.

"What is it? What did you see?" Wyatt asked.

"Four glowing figures that were right behind you," Chris breathed, blinking his eyes again and rubbing at his hazy vision. This was not good. Not good at all.

"I didn't see them," Wyatt said, frowning as he looked towards the door. His hands were at his sides, ready for action. There were frozen students in the locker room too, changing out from gym class, but since no one was moving Wyatt wasn't worried about them. He was worried about what his brother had seen.

"They're there Wy," Chris said, leaning back against a locker, "We're in a lot of trouble."

"Aunt Paige!" Wyatt screamed and there was nothing. "Aunt Paige!!!."

"Uncle Coop?" Chris called out and still nothing. "We're really in a lot of trouble here."

Wyatt looked over his shoulder at Chris, "What's the matter with your eyes?"

"I…" Chris made a face, looking towards the sound of his brother's voice, "I can't really see. I'm only seeing hazy colors. I think that blast did something to my eyes, Wy…"

"AUNT PAIGE!" Wyatt shouted again, "UNCLE COOP!"

"They're not coming Wy, face it. We're on our own," Chris mumbled.

"Well, we handled last weekend on our own, we can handle this," Wyatt said. Still, it would've been nice to have help.

Wyatt sat Chris on the bench in the locker room and then pushed a chair under the doorknob. He walked over to Chris who still was rubbing his eyes. Wyatt put his hand up to his brother's eyes but the golden glow didn't appear and Wyatt frowned.

"You tried to heal them didn't you?" Chris asked as he leaned his head against the locker behind him.

"I don't understand," Wyatt said, frowning at his hands. He looked up at the ceiling, directing a scowl towards the Elders. They seemed to have some sort of sick enjoyment in not letting him heal his brother.

"Do you think this is permanent?" Chris asked, fear tingeing the sixteen-year-old's voice, "I mean am I not going to be able to see?"

"No, we're gonna fix this. Don't worry. Remember what dad says everything happens for a reason." Wyatt leaned his head against a locker and wished he saw the reason for this. "Remember if you hadn't been hurt in the football game, you wouldn't have been able to rescue Alwynne and vanquish the Daughter of Nightmares."

"Wouldn't have found my new power. You're right. I mean, I know you're right. It's just really scary on this end," Chris said, squeezing his eyes shut.

Wyatt looked at his little brother and cursed himself for not thinking how scary this would be for him, "I'm gonna take care of you Chris, no one is going to hurt you."

"D.J.!" Chris exclaimed opening his eyes again. The odd colors and blackness swirled in front of him and he quickly closed them back. "Wyatt, _D.J._"

"What?" Wyatt looked at Chris and wondered what he was talking about.

"If all mortals have been frozen, D.J. should still be up and talking. For that matter, Alwynne should be too..." Chris trailed off.

Wyatt jumped to his feet, grinning at his little brother even though Chris couldn't see the expression. "He had wood shop that period, where was Alwynne?"

"Art, I think. Hey Wy, when I was in class, I was staring out the window at this bird..."

"We'll get your sight back Chris, you'll be able to stare at that damn bird all semester if you want," the blonde said, offering his brother a hand. He made a face when he realized Chris couldn't see it and just took hold of Chris' arm.

"Will you listen to me? That wasn't the point. My eyes are on the blink not my brain."

"Sorry," Wyatt apologized.

"It's okay. It's just that the bird was still flying about after everyone froze. We're working on a time limit here Wy," the brunette said.

Color drained from Wyatt's face at what his brother had revealed. "You mean we have to figure out what is going on by the time school is over?"

"I think so. I mean at three o'clock when there are not kids leaving school, people are going to wonder, right? We can't have just anyone walking into the school and seeing people frozen. The Cleaners would have a fit," Chris said.

"I didn't do it."

Chris put his other hand atop the one Wyatt had placed on his arm, "I'm not accusing you of anything, just saying..."

"Just saying we have to figure out what is going on or we're screwed."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: _strikermac_ and I don't own Charmed or Chris and Wyatt Halliwell. We just like writing about them…

**Author's Note**: This has been posted up at the "Destined" boards for a while now, but at last, here I go releasing it on _fanfiction_ for those of you who have been patiently waiting. I hope that you enjoy the third story in the Pre-Destined series. As always, please read and review!

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**Chapter Two**

Wyatt had to stay calm for his brother's sake, even though the thought of trying to figure this out with the restrictions of a time limit had turn his stomach in knots. It was also the very eerie feeling of the school being absolutely silent with all of the students and faculty frozen like statues as if their mother had come in and used her power on the whole building at once. Then there were the four demons that Chris had claimed to have been able to see even though he said he wasn't able to see anything else. That had Wyatt more worried than anything, but now his little brother seemed to be handling it rationally once more. That or Chris was doing his usual fabulous job of covering up what he was really feeling.

"I'm going to orb us to the wood shop," Wyatt said, placing a hand on Chris' shoulder, "Faster we get there, the faster we can get D.J.'s help."

Chris nodded and the pair of them vanished in a swirl of orbs. They couldn't actually get out of the school building, but traveling within the confines of the educational facility worked just fine. Chris held onto Wyatt's arm as they reformed in the hallway just outside of the woodshop. The sixteen-year-old opened his eyes again and made a face as everything was just swirls of greens and violets. Wyatt gave his arm a squeeze, "Stay right here okay, I'm going to look into the shop..."

Wyatt slipped away from his brother and opened the door to the shop, the teacher stood helping someone with the band saw. Everyone that Wyatt saw was frozen. He stepped back into the hallway and took his brother by the arm, pulling him inside with him so that he could look for D.J. He didn't want to leave his brother standing out in the hallway.

"I thought you told me to stay there," Chris said wryly.

"Changed my mind, stick with me," Wyatt said. The broad shouldered blonde groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. Where was D.J.? He walked further into the shop and hissed in a quiet whisper, "Dee?"

Knowing D.J. if the boy had seen everyone in the room frozen and had realized he was unable to get out of the building, he was probably in panic mode by now. The guy didn't handle stressful situations very well, which was sort of funny to Wyatt considering how often he was put in them being friends with the two of them. "D.J.?" Wyatt called out again. He walked around one of the larger pieces of machinery and stopped so quickly that Chris bumped into his back. He had just realized why his best friend had suddenly found such an interest in wood shop. D.J. was leaning over the bench, looking right down the shirt of the only girl in the class.

"Ah, I get it now," Wyatt said with a quiet chuckle in the back of his throat.

"Get what?" Chris asked as he leaned against a pillar, since Wyatt had moved forwards.

"You know that new girl that D.J. keeps saying looks like Marilyn Monroe?" Wyatt asked, moving back over to his brother.

"Yes," Chris said, wondering what relevance that had here. Had Wyatt found D.J. or not?

"He's got the hots for her and if I'm not mistaken, Marilyn is giving him the green light," Wyatt said.

Chris made a face, "Wyatt, how many times do I have to tell you that I do not want to know about you and D.J. and your love lives?"

"You asked," Wyatt said, "Anyway... he's frozen."

Chris turned his head towards his brother, "What?"

"Frozen," Wyatt repeated. Just to make sure, he looked back towards the half-manticore and the girl. They weren't moving a muscle.

Chris sagged back against the pillar, "Okay. Maybe because he's part demon?"

"Maybe," Wyatt said, "Let's check on Ally."

Wyatt started to walk off, then turned back to grab Chris to pull him along. The blonde halted in his tracks when he saw the tall, slender figure moving around the side of one of the pieces of machinery. It looked almost human, but Wyatt knew it was a demon immediately from the glowing green eyes and the peculiar armor that it was wearing. It looked like armor made of skin and scaled lizard hides. Wyatt moved in front of Chris and flicked his hands at the demon. It staggered back with the blast and bared teeth at Wyatt, but rather than blow up the thing shimmered out.

"What was that?" Chris asked, "Did you just blast something?"

"Demon," Wyatt said, blue eyes still roving around the wood shop for any sign that it might be coming back.

"You saw them? The four glowing ones?"

"No, the badly dressed one in dire need of an orthodontist," Wyatt said. He grabbed hold of Chris' arm and walked back out of the wood shop, moving quickly.

Chris stumbled after Wyatt and scowled, "Two different demons? This is like Sweden all over again. That is, except that this time I'm totally helpless."

"You're not totally helpless Chris," Wyatt said, pulling his brother along.

"Wyatt, I can't see. I can't TK what I can't see..." the younger boy said.

Wyatt winced and held onto his brother's arm protectively as they made their way down the hall. He was really hating this situation and that was growing progressively more acute by the moment.

"Wyatt! They're back," Chris yelled as he gave a sharp tug on his brother's arm. He could see them at the end of the hallway and now the four glowing figures had seen he and Wyatt. They were heading right towards them.

Wyatt didn't see anything and he looked at his brother, "What? Where, Chris? I don't see anything!"

"At the end of the hallway, coming towards us Wy!" Chris shouted. He could see them, why couldn't Wyatt? "Run."

Wyatt cursed and turned around, pulling Chris with him as he ran from something that he couldn't see. He flicked a hand behind him and blasted a locker, hoping to intimidate whatever or whoever was after them. He wasn't questioning whether Chris was seeing things, or how he could see four glowing figures when he said he couldn't see, he could tell his brother meant it and that was enough for him.

"In here," Wyatt exclaimed, dragging his brother into a utility closet and closing the door. They both leaned against the wall inside, trying to catch their breath. Wyatt raked a hand through his blonde locks and lifted his eyes to look around the small room they'd hidden in and made a face. He groaned softly, "Oh, I didn't need to see that."

"What?" Chris panted.

"I don't want to scar you for life," Wyatt said.

Chris rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, "Just tell me."

"Mr. Detweiller and Ms. Brown are making out just behind us," Wyatt said, looking at the two teachers caught up in a passionate embrace.

"Mr. Detweiller? Isn't he... Never mind," Chris said as he frowned, then shook his head.

"There are just some things I just don't want to know, know what I mean?" Wyatt muttered.

"Yes, teachers making out with each other," Chris stated, "number one on the list. How come you can't see the demons and I can, Wy?"

"Dunno, but you didn't see the one that I blasted," Wyatt said, "But if you say you saw something, then I believe you."

"Thanks," Chris said.

"Hey, Chris," Wyatt started.

"What?" the younger brother asked.

"I think Cait has a crush on me or something," Wyatt said.

"Uh… Wy… I have a three letter word for you: Duh," Chris quipped, "I've been telling you that for years. I thought sure you two would _finally_ hook up at Homecoming, but I guess I sort of ruined that."

"Not your fault, I was just going to the dance with Cait as a friend," Wyatt said, "Hey, if not for what happened at Homecoming, I wouldn't have ever talked to Andy…"

"Yeah, well, don't tell that to Cait," Chris said, "I don't want her blaming me for you slipping through her fingers when she thought she finally had a shot with you. She's been crushing you since Elementary school."

"I just never really realized it before."

"For being such a ladies man, Wy, you're a bit slow on the uptake," Chris said, "What made you finally realize?"

"A comment that Jess made to Cait right before everything froze," Wyatt said, "Jess and I were talking about my date with Andy, then Caitlin started having a meltdown complaining about Valentine's Day… and Jess said something to the effect of the 'green eyed monster' talking about Cait."

Chris' head moved in a silent nod, "Yeah, that would be a flashing neon sign."

They waited in the storage closet for a few moments longer and then Wyatt cautiously poked his head out into the hallway, "I think the coast is clear..."

"How would you know?" Chris asked, "You said you couldn't see them."

"Okay, then you look, just to be sure."

Chris stuck his head out and peered out at the swirling greens and violets, but he didn't see any glowing figures, "Coast is clear. Let's go find Ally..."

Wyatt started out, taking Chris' arm again, he made a few turns before he stopped, turned around and retraced his steps to go down a different hallway in the opposite direction. Wyatt made yet another turn and changed his mind, realizing that too was the wrong direction and retraced his steps back to the beginning.

"Where are you going?" Chris asked, "We've turned around at least three times now. Are we back where we started?"

"I have no idea where the art room is," Wyatt admitted, "I've never been there."

"You're kidding me... Wyatt, you're a senior..."

"Uh, hi... Chris, I've never had any reason at ALL to go to the art room before," the older boy muttered, "I think it's this way though."

Chris groaned softly and let himself be pulled along behind his directionally challenged brother. Sarcastically he quipped, "I want a new seeing eye dog, you're defective."

"Funny." Wyatt was glad his brother was at least keeping his good humor about this whole thing. Although, Wyatt supposed it was more likely that Chris was just hiding behind sarcasm as he did so well. "Right, okay, good... yeah, we're going the right way. Here we go."

Wyatt could tell he had finally found the right hallway in the labyrinth of the school because a paint-splattered art student had an easel set up in the middle of the hallway and was doing some sort of perspective painting of the hall. The blond witch raised his eyebrows briefly as he looked at the painting. Someone else who had an eye for art could have told him it was done in pointillism, but Wyatt just gave a small impressed nod at the patience doing all of those different colored dots must take.

Wyatt pushed open the door to the art room and Chris bumped into him. Chris asked in annoyance, "Well, are you going to go in or just stand in the doorway?"

"Problem."

"What problem?" Chris asked. He didn't like the tone of his brother's voice in that one word. Chris tried in vain to look into the art room around his brother but continued to only see swirling darkened colors. Wyatt pulled Chris into the art room behind him and walked up behind the pretty redhead they had come looking for.

"She's frozen too..." Wyatt said in that same tone.

Alwynne O'Bruadair was indeed frozen like a statue as the rest of the class. She had her pencil hung in midair over the drawing she was working on. A lock of the girl's red-gold curls hung down in her face. Wyatt walked over and waved a hand in front of her face just to be certain, but was confirmed when she didn't so much as blink her eyes. There was a smudge of graphite on the bridge of her nose sweeping across her cheek.

Wyatt let his eyes drift over the rest of the classroom to find the other art students and even the peculiar little woman who was the art teacher utterly motionless. So much for the hope that Alwynne would be able to help them. What did that mean? D.J. was frozen. Alwynne was frozen. Everyone in the school save for them…

"She can't be frozen. She's a witch," Chris said. Chris allowed Wyatt to guide him back into the hallway. Wyatt's hand was holding onto his arm just a little tighter and Chris fought against the worried flutter in his stomach.

"Chris, she's frozen," the older Halliwell said.

The younger boy blew out a low breath. "So it's just you, and five creepy demons."

"And you," Wyatt reminded his brother as they walked down the hallway again. He'd only been in the school once when it had been this quiet and that was because he had stayed late with Caitlin to work on the school paper long after hours. Wyatt looked into a classroom that was empty, so he went in and sat his brother in a chair before he started to pace the room. He had to think this through.

"I'm worthless in this situation, Wy."

Chris' words brought Wyatt's pacing up short. The Twice-Blessed witch stopped in front of the desk he'd sat his brother at and he stared at him. First his brother tells him that he can still think, then he says he's worthless the next moment, Wyatt rolled his eyes. "You said it yourself Chris, you can't see, but you still have your brain. That's the part I need right now anyway. You work things through faster than I do and if we're working on a time limit, you're the one I need."

"Wy?" Chris asked in a reserved voice.

"What?"

Chris moistened his lips. His brother was right about that, he knew, but he had no way to fight back without being able to see. "Why are we the only ones moving? I mean, it doesn't really make sense. I can understand Dee, since he's half-demon, but Ally is a witch. At least she ought to be moving if _we_ are, right?"

"But she isn't and neither is D.J., so it looks like we're the targets. I don't like that." Wyatt looked at his little brother; he could see the wheels in turning in his head. "I don't like that at all." Wyatt started to pace again.

"So maybe we need..."

"Stay here," Wyatt said suddenly. He'd seen the glowing-eyed demon in the hallway and he bolted out after it.

"Wyatt!" Chris screamed, but Wyatt was gone. Chris gnawed on his bottom lip and stood up. He took two steps forward and bumped into another desk. With a frustrated sound he started feeling around until he found the door. Chris heard Wyatt blasting things as he ran up the hall. Chris stared sightlessly down the hall, straining to hear the sounds of his brother chasing the demon.

Then he looked down the hall in the other direction and saw them. The glowing figures that Wyatt couldn't see.

"Wy!" Chris backed away, retreating backwards back into the classroom. He was tripping over desks and chairs in his attempt to get away. Finally, as a bunch of desks gathered behind him he fell into them and landed on the floor as the glowing figures hovered over him.

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The demon had led Wyatt on a merry chase through the building. Wyatt blasted at the demon, but yet again the demon dodged the blast. Wyatt watched the demon shimmer away. Wyatt cursed and turned around to start back to his brother. Then without warning the demon shimmered back in front of Wyatt and threw an athame at him. Wyatt twisted to the side to avoid the weapon.

"Hell, now you are really beginning to tick me off." Wyatt used his telekinesis to throw the demon. The demon slammed into a wall of lockers, leaving a dent. It slid to the ground and then the demon shimmered off.

"Darn you! That's not fighting fair," Wyatt shouted. Wyatt looked around the hall, he actually had no idea where he was in the school. A lot of the hallways looked the same and he'd just been running after the demon without paying attention to where they were going. It was then that he felt Chris panic.

Wyatt growled and started down the hallway again, but the demon chose that moment to shimmer in behind him. Wyatt sensed the prickle of the hairs on the back of his neck and moved just in time. The athame missed his neck by a quarter of an inch and slammed into a locker. Wyatt turned around, with his fists balled up and promised under his breath, "I'm coming Chris, hang in there."

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Chris stared up at the four glowing figures and pushed himself as far away from them as possible. He tried repeatedly to send them telekinetically away, but they didn't move. With a moan he waited for them to do whatever they were going to do. He didn't have anywhere else to go. One of the chairs was digging into his lower back.

"Are you Christopher Halliwell?" The voice seemed almost mechanical as Chris blinked at the question.

"Yes." Now he was confused. Demons, usually blasted first and asked questions later. Kind of like Wyatt… blast first ask questions later. Chris kept himself backed as far from them as he could get, tangled in the fallen chairs. The glowing figures didn't move any closer, but they hovered over him.

"We need your help," a second mechanical ringing voice sounded.

"You need my help? I don't usually help demons." Chris caught his bottom lip between his teeth as he was finally able to focus in on the beings. His eyesight shifted and he could see them with much more detail, but in the same token, the rest of the surroundings faded into darkness. They looked old, no ancient, with large green eyes and wide foreheads. All were dressed in some sort of robes.

"We are not demons. We trapped on this plane. A demon has cornered us, we need your help to get home," the first figure stated calmly.

"Different plane?" Chris asked. He moistened his lips. "What does that have to do with me? I don't have that power. I don't even know how to begin to help you."

"We know how to tap into your powers to get us home."

"I don't have that power!" Chris said again. Chris didn't like the phrase 'tap into your powers', he didn't have many to begin with, sharing them with a bunch of mechanical sounding beings didn't sound like a good bet to him.

Chris watched the figures exchange looks and wondered if they were communicating in some way that he couldn't hear. Finally one of them nodded and crouched down in front of Chris.

"I..." Chris started.

"Please. The demon will destroy us," the figure said, "We must get home."

_Wyatt!_ Chris screamed through their link.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: _strikermac_ and I don't own Charmed or Chris and Wyatt Halliwell. We just like writing about them…

**Author's Note**: This has been posted up at the "Destined" boards for a while now, but at last, here I go releasing the next chapter on _fanfiction_ for those of you who have been patiently waiting. I hope that you enjoy the third story in the Pre-Destined series. As always, please read and review!

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**Chapter Three**

A set of lockers exploded outwards with the concussive blast thrust forth by the teenaged witchlighter. Their doors rocked off their hinges and the contents that would normally be held within flew outwards, raining the remnants of ruined textbooks and notes into the hallway. He screamed in frustration as the demon yet again shimmered out of sight and balled his hands into fists. The only thing that kept him from pursuing the demon further was the panicked scream that sounded inside his skull coming from his brother.

Wyatt spun a narrowed blue-eyed gaze around the hallway a final time to be sure the demon had stayed gone this time and left the hallway in a brilliant swirl of orbs. He had half expected to be knocked back to the ground, but it seemed orbing was find so long as it was done _within_ the school and without attempting to leave. Going from the hallway to his brother's location was permitted by whatever force was preventing them from leaving.

Chris was on the ground, several desks behind him and he looked terrified, but there was nothing there. But the very look on his brother's face told him that the demons only he was seeing were standing somewhere nearby. Possibly even standing over his brother. Wyatt inwardly kicked himself for leaving Chris unprotected, but now wasn't the time to do that, he had to try to scare them away. The big question was, how could you fight something that you couldn't see?

The answer to that, at least for Wyatt, was blast everything around that you can and hope you get lucky. The Twice Blessed witch raised his hands and flicked them outwards, that familiar gesture sending the small explosions of power inherited from his mother outwards. He continued doing it even though he couldn't see what he was blasting at. He just hoped that maybe he would hit one or at least chase them away for the time being. Chris sat still and was breathing heavily, little beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

"Chris?" Wyatt looked down at his brother. The younger teen was shaking. Through their link Wyatt felt the building fear Chris was feeling. That alone, terrified Wyatt. He kept his hands raised, but stopped blasting as he moved towards his brother, "Bro...?"

Chris swallowed hard. The four glowing figures had started exchanging looks with one another and the one that had been about to touch him pulled back when Wyatt began blasting things. Chris could hear his brother, but he couldn't see how much damage Wyatt was doing, until one of the blasts actually struck one of the four. It jerked to the side with a high-pitched whine and was caught by the other three ancient figures. A heartbeat later, all four glowing ancient figures vanished from Chris' sight and left him with nothing but darkness again.

The dark-haired teen whimpered softly and reached out, knowing that Wyatt was there nearby. Even if his brother hadn't come in with his hypothetical guns blazing, he could sense him there. "Wy, they were here. You, you hit one of them... and they all disappeared. Where are you?" Wyatt knelt beside him and took his brother's hand and felt his distress, though just the touch of Wyatt's hand had him relaxing.

"Did they hurt you?" Wyatt hugged Chris against him until the shaking had stopped.

"No, but I think they were going to." Chris answered him, "They said they weren't demons. They're trapped here from a different plane... but I'm not so sure. They wanted to tap into my powers to get home. I dont know what they meant by that... tap into my powers."

"They said that to you?" Wyatt asked, helping his brother up from the pile of desks.

"Scared the hell out of me. I don't exactly know what that entails, but it didn't sound good," Chris said, his voice gradually sounding less tenuous than it had when Wyatt first got there.

"No, not good at all." Wyatt scanned the room. "I won't leave you again. I should have been more careful. It's just, I saw the demon and I---"

"It's okay," Chris interrupted him, "I'm used to you running off... I'm just not used to being unable to defend myself when you do. I'm not sure why they think I can help them get home. If anyone would have the power to get them home I'd think you would. Not me."

"I don't know," Wyatt said, taking Chris' hand and putting it on his arm as he poked his head into the hallway. The blonde looked one direction and then looked the other, "Maybe they are actually a dream, and that's why I can't see them but you can."

"I'm wide awake."

"Expanding power?" Wyatt questioned. He didn't really believe that, but it was a possibility all the same. Chris had just gotten his Dreamwalking power, for it to expand so quickly and take an odd jump like this didn't really seem logical.

"I don't think so, but I want to figure out what is going on so that we can unfreeze everything. I have this feeling of impending doom," Chris said.

"You always feel that way." Wyatt said.

"I think those four have something to do with the school being frozen, Wy," Chris said.

"Well, you let me know if you see them again, I'll blast them," Wyatt told his brother as they stepped out into the hallway. He wasn't really sure where they were going to go or what they were going to do, but Wyatt was too worked up now to stay in one place.

Chris sighed, letting himself be dragged, "You can't see them."

"You just point where they are," Wyatt said, "You told me I hit one of them. Well, if I wounded one, then I can do the same to the others."

"I don't know if they're demons or not though..."

Wyatt stopped in his tracks, pulling Chris to a stop too. He looked at his brother, even though Chris wasn't seeing him, "Chris, they want to use your powers. That's not exactly an un-demon thing... they were going to hurt you."

"I don't know that for sure," Chris said. As terrified as he was of the prospect of having some unknown beings tap into his powers, powers that he didn't even have, he was trying to be logical about this.

"Make up your mind will you?" Wyatt led him down the hall, rolling his eyes. It was frustrating him. The two of them rounded a corner and Wyatt saw a pair of frozen students that had him narrowing his eyes at firs. The glare quickly turned into a small, wicked smile. The school bully had cornered a young freshman. Never would he get another opportunity quite so perfect.

Wyatt chuckled softly, "Oh no, this is just too good not to do this."

"What?" Chris asked, already worried about what might be there and what was going through his older brother's head. He didn't like that laugh or the tone of Wyatt's voice. Whatever it was, it was a distraction from the fact that they were slowly running out of time to figure this mess out.

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_It was the first day of sixth grade. Christopher Halliwell swallowed hard as he got off of the bus and followed his big brother towards the looming Middle School building. There were so many students here that he didn't know -- students bussed in from other areas of San Fran to attend this middle school -- and the dark-haired boy's eyes scanned over faces looking for someone familiar. He didn't find any so far and the knot in his stomach grew._

_Wyatt walked towards the building like he owned the place and only when he sensed Chris' nervousness did he slow down and let Chris catch up. The blonde draped an arm over Chris' shoulder, "What're you so nervous about? It's just another school... let me see your schedule again."_

_Chris held up the piece of paper that he had crumpled mercilessly on the bus and chewed on his lip. Wyatt ruffled his hair and scanned over the list of classes, making faces at some of the teachers that did little to settle the nervous eleven-year-old. "What's that face for?" Chris asked, worried._

_"Just Tolifson. The guy is a jerk," Wyatt said, tapping the name of Chris' math teacher, "I had him too. You're going to be fine though."_

_"I don't know Wy..."_

_"You worry too much, you know. Just make sure you're in the right classes when the second bell for each period rings," Wyatt said, "It's the first day, they'll cut you some slack."_

_Chris looked at his thirteen-year-old brother as he nibbled on his bottom lip. He took his schedule back and tried smoothing it out._

_"Hey you two!" a familiar voice said as a pair of hands clapped onto the Halliwell's shoulders. D.J. Anderson had a wide grin on his face in spite of the glaring black eye that he was sorting. "Ready for your first day of Middle School torment _Peanut_?" he asked Chris in a mocking tone._

_Chris screwed his face up into a glare at D.J. and balled his fists up at his sides. "Don't call me that! Only my mom can call me that!" Chris shouted. Wyatt crossed an arm over his little brother and held him back from doing any harm to his best friend. "Don't call me that!" Chris snapped, looking like a ruffled little bird. D.J. laughed._

_"What happened to you?" Wyatt asked as he nodded to D.J.'s eye, changing the subject quickly._

_"You should see the other guy," D.J. said with a laugh._

_Wyatt raised his eyebrows skeptically._

_D.J. shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, okay... I was trying to get something out of my closet and knocked a bunch of stuff down from the top shelf. My baseball clocked me in the eye, but it makes it seem much less embarrassing if I insinuate that I got into a fight."_

_"You forget who you're talking to, I happen to know you too well to believe that," Wyatt said with a laugh, "C'mon. Chris hasn't been insi---" Wyatt trailed off as his blue eyes caught the sight of a pretty blonde girl getting out of a car in the parent drop off lane. "Hello... who is that?"_

_"Andrea Payton and she is the biggest snob on the planet Earth," a chipper female voice said as a short, perky blonde girl bounced up next to Wyatt, followed by the tall, slender brunette who was speaking. "At least, that's what Brandon Coppard told me. She and her family just moved in next door to him at the beginning of the summer. She has an older brother at the high school. That's probably one of her other brothers dropping her off."_

_"Hey Chris," the short blonde Jessica Duncan said with a nod, she leaned in to whisper to him as Caitlin Sweeny continued updating the summer gossip to Wyatt and D.J. "Hayden already went inside to look for that other friend of yours, if you don't want to listen to the CNN here."_

_"Caitlin News Network?" Chris asked with a slight smile as some of his nervousness went away. At least he would know some of the people here. And having Hayden and Caspian, his two closest friends, here would make the transition from Elementary to Middle School that much easier. "Tell Wyatt I'll try to find him at lunch?"_

_"I will," Jess said, before she went to join the steady trail of conversation that Caitlin was spouting off to Wyatt and D.J. as another friend in the form of Jake Garner joined their little cluster in the front courtyard. Soon the popular older Halliwell had gotten lost among his friends and had forgotten he had a little brother who was nervous about his first day. _

_Chris looked them over, saw his older brother in his element and then squaring his narrow shoulders -- he hefted his backpack and walked into the middle school to face the day._

_---------------------------------------------------_

_The day had actually gone surprisingly well. Wyatt was right though, Mr. Tolifson was a jerk. The big, balding man with his pudgy red-cheeked face and beady eyes had no sympathies for anyone. When Chris had walked in late to the class he gave the boy a tardy and said the next time he was late it would be detention. Chris had gotten turned around trying to find the room, but he quietly accepted it as he sank into a chair in the back of the room._

_"Halliwell... oh, I should have known," Tolifson had said, rolling his eyes. He dabbed at sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief. Chris had made up for it a little bit, when he had answered the questions the man asked the class correctly. A pop quiz on the first day. No wonder Wyatt hadn't liked the man. _

_The bell had rung and Chris hurried to his feet to head to the cafeteria where Wyatt and D.J. would be waiting. Caspian had second lunch period rather than first, so Chris wouldn't get to eat with him, but Hayden met him out in the hallway and the two walked together._

_"I've been compared to my sister in every single class," Hayden said, making a face, "It's awful... If I hear another teacher ask if I'm as good a student as Cait and that they expect good things from me again I'm going to scream. Seriously."_

_"And being compared to Wyatt the great is supposed to be better, how?"_

_"Because the teachers don't expect you to do good in classes," Hayden said, "Sure, there's that whole Mr. Perfect thing, but you've always made better grades than he has. He might be more outgoing and personable, but he's no genius. Cait is a Strait-A student. I'm a Straight-C student, Chris... all I'm going to hear is 'Tsk, tsk. You should do better Mr. Sweeny, why when your sister was in this class...' get me a rock to hide under."_

_Chris laughed, adjusting his backpack which was hanging from just one shoulder, "I'm sure it's not that bad." _

_The two of them rounded a corner and Chris bumped into a kid who was backing up from his locker, sending the guy's backpack falling to the ground. The contents of the bag went spilling across the hallway. The guy was huge. Huge and his dark hair was spiked straight up. He had more metal in his ears than he had ear, and he was actually wearing - of all things - a spiked collar around his neck to match his studded leather jacket. Chris lifted his eyes up to look at the looming giant and Hayden took a step back. He had juvenile delinquent and bully stamped on his forehead. _

_Chris' green eyes went wide as he followed Hayden's example, stepping back, "Sorry..."_

_Chris winced as the guy grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and slammed him against the row of lockers. The younger boy's backpack dropped to the ground at his feet. There were a few gasps from other students in the hallway and Hayden stared, trying to decide whether to try to tackle the giant off of Chris or run to get a teacher to intervene._

_"Watch where you're going you little runt," the guy snarled, lifting Chris a couple of inches off of the ground. _

_"I said I was sorry!" Chris stammered out._

_"Not as sorry as you're gonna be..." the guy drew back a fist and Chris squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the blow to hit. He could take a punch, but he knew it was going to hurt like hell. This was not how he wanted to spend his first day of middle school._

_"Get your hands off of my brother Finley!"_

_Chris opened one eye a crack, then opened them both when he saw Wyatt making a beeline down the hallway towards them. The guy narrowed his eyes and looked over his shoulder at Wyatt. He was still holding Chris pinned against the lockers a few inches off the ground. A locker handle was digging into the eleven-year-old's lower back. 'Finley' looked back at Chris, "Your brother? What're you going to do about it Golden Boy?"_

_"This," Wyatt grabbed Finley by his leather jacket and jerked him away from Chris. Chris' feet touched back to the ground and the younger boy watched his brother dragged the bigger boy back. Wyatt still had a hand on the back of Finley's jacket and spun him around, "Don't mess with my brother. This is the only warning I'm going to give you." Wyatt jabbed a finger against the guy's chest, not looking even remotely intimidated. _

_The blonde then grabbed hold of Chris' arm and started leading him down the hallway away from the bully. Hayden snatched Chris' backpack off the ground and raced after them, casting a nervous look over his shoulder. Finley straightened his jacket and glared coldly after the Halliwells as they walked down the hallway away from him with their friends. _

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"Just a little payback against Finley Justice." Wyatt moved the freshman with his TK and then moved the janitor's cart in front of the bully and tipped him into it. "Yes, I think that's fair."

"What did you do? Wy? Wyatt, we can't use our powers for personal gain," Chris said... even if he did have personal reasons for wanting Finley to get what was coming to him.

"Not personal gain at all. I did it for the school." Wyatt said.

"Wy, the wrong things done for the right reason are--"

"Still wrong," Wyatt said, rolling his eyes, "Thanks Mom, I didn't know that. Come on." Wyatt dragged Chris down the hallway and saw the athame coming straight at Chris. Hastily Wyatt pulled him down.

"What?" Chris heard something strike a metal locker behind him and cringed. "Did I almost get hit with something?"

"Nah, it was at least an inch away from hitting you, don't be so over dramatic."

"When I get my sight back, I'm going to kill you," the younger boy announced.

"Can't wait." Wyatt blasted at the demon and it shimmered out again. This song and dance was getting old fast. Maybe if he got hold of the athame he could use it to scry for the demon with a map of the school later and, well, Chris was the planner but Wyatt was at least trying to come up with something to build off of. Wyatt released Chris and walked over to pick up the athame.

When Wyatt stood up the demon was standing behind Chris, another athame at his throat. Chris was staying perfectly still.

Wyatt's heart skipped a beat, "Don't hurt him."

"Just gonna keep him for safe keeping until I find those filthy little creatures," the glowing-eyed demon said in a gravelly voice, "Then you'll get the Dreamwalker back."

"Dreamwalker? How did you know my brother was a Dreamwalker?" Wyatt demanded.

"Wyatt!" Chris gasped.

"Ah, that's for you to find out isn't it," the demon announced. He shimmered out with Chris.

Wyatt's hand tightened around the athame he had picked up and he stared at the spot his brother had been standing in with the demon. "Chris!"

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**Author's Note: **So, now you've read Chapter Three… click that little button and write a review. You know you want to. The button beckons you. Click it. Click it. And tell me how awful I am for that cliffhanger. (Lucky for you I'll shortly be posting the next chapter since it's been written and posted on the "Destined" boards for a while now too.)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: Well it seems that _strikermac_ and I still don't own Charmed or Chris and Wyatt Halliwell. But, lucky for you guys, we still like writing about them!

**Author's Note**: Look at that, no updates for a while (well at least here on _fanfiction_) and all of a sudden two in a row! Unfortunately you might not get the answers to the cliffhanger just yet, but it is more of the story… enjoy. Oh yes, and write a review once you've read it. Pretty please, with sugar on top?

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**Chapter Four**

"Piper, we're here!" Phoebe Halliwell walked into the manor with her youngest daughter Pandora in tow. The Halliwell manor had been Phoebe's childhood home and she always felt that warmth of homecoming whenever she walked through the doors. Today was no exception as the scents of something baking in the kitchen greeted her nose. That was her older sister Piper's doing. Piper was always in the kitchen, but being a professional chef and now entrepreneur of a very successfully growing restaurant chain it was to be expected to find her in the kitchen. Phoebe smiled fondly down at her youngest daughter. Pandora loved her Aunt Piper.

Piper hadn't had any daughters. She and Leo had tried for a third child after Chris, but had only been met by disappointment in their attempts. Though neither were surprised since Chris' birth had been full of complications, and nearly resulted in both Piper and baby Chris' death. Instead, this generation's Halliwell matriarch settled for doting upon her nieces and Phoebe was all too happy to let her. Any time that Phoebe and her husband Coop went out of town, they left the girls with Piper.

Phoebe's two oldest daughters were at school, but her six-year-old had been sick the last few days and was just now getting over whatever cold she'd had. Phoebe had decided to keep her from school one more day just to be safe. Unfortunately, the advice columnist's editor had decided to call a meeting, so she had needed to call upon her sister to baby-sit for the day. Pandora was humming softly to herself as Phoebe practically dragged her into the house.

"Well there's my girl," Piper Halliwell said in a cheerful voice. She came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron and the little girl's brown eyes brightened.

Phoebe's lips quirked up higher as her daughter pulled her hand free and dashed toward her aunt with a cry of, "Aunt Piper!" Piper picked her up and kissed her cheek.

"Are we going to have fun today?" Piper asked while Phoebe stood back, watching. The little girl nodded, sending her dark curls bouncing. Piper sat her down and Pandora wandered off into the kitchen toward the smells of baking goodies. Piper then proceeded to wrap her arms around her younger sister.

"You have any coffee made? I'm out," Phoebe asked as she released Piper from the embrace. After the nod from the older woman, Phoebe walked into the kitchen, went right for the coffee maker, which was steaming with freshly made coffee and poured herself a cup. "I love you."

Piper's eyes twinkled as she leaned against the counter. She asked, "So what time is the meeting?"

"Eleven. I have a few minutes yet before I need to leave," Phoebe said.

"Did you want a muffin? I made them for the boys for breakfast."

"Blueberry?" Phoebe asked hopefully. Fresh baked goodies was something she still missed, no longer living in the manor. Piper produced the blueberry muffin and Phoebe smiled. "Thank you."

Piper looked toward the door where Dora was standing and held the basket of muffins up, "Dora? Do you want a muffin?"

"Chocolate Chip, please," the little girl chimed in a polite voice. She skipped further into the room and saw the basketball in the corner. Pandora made her way over to it and bent to pick it up. When her hands touched the ball the little girl stiffened. Her entire body went rigid as black and white images flashed through her head. She saw the images of her older cousins with a demon. Dora dropped the ball with a quiet gasp and it bounced away from her and rolled back toward the two women. She remained quiet as her mother and aunt chatted, staring silently after the ball.

"Don't bounce the ball in the house Dora," Phoebe said as she watched her frown. The dark-haired girl turned around, her big brown eyes were troubled and her lower lip quivered slightly. Phoebe sighed and said, "Don't pout baby. Aunt Piper said she'd take you to the park later, you can bounce it there."

"Phoebe, I have two teenage boys," Piper said as she put a chocolate chip muffin on a plate for her niece and poured the little girl a glass of milk, "I don't think Dora bouncing the ball in the house is going to cause nearly as much damage as those two can do at any given moment. Milk and a chocolate chip muffin for my girl."

"I suppose you have a point, but she's not allowed to play ball in the house, it's that whole consistent parenting thing," Phoebe said, her hands wrapped around her coffee mug.

"I never thought in a million years I would hear you saying something like that," Piper said with a laugh as she set the muffin and glass of milk at the table. Pandora shook her head, looking toward the basketball, and then trotted over to sit down in front of the muffin and milk.

"Miracles do happen," Phoebe said with a toothy smile "Although, Mel is beginning to enter the teenage rebellion stage and I'm not sure what to do with her. You never went through that with Chris and Wyatt..."

Piper raised an eyebrow at her sister, and poured herself a cup of coffee.

Phoebe's lips twitched, "Okay, correction... until this last _year_ you never went through it with Chris and Wyatt."

"Late bloomers I guess," Piper said, blowing on her coffee to cool it before taking a sip.

"I have many more years of Melinda's teen-aged rebellion to look forward to. I guess I'm getting what I deserve for all the hell I put Grams through. You know she snuck out of the house two nights ago to see a boy?" Phoebe said with a sneer. "She's just barely a teenager."

"No, I didn't know that, but at least you don't have to worry about her orbing to Tanzania in the middle of the night if she decides to," Piper offered.

"True," Phoebe said, looking toward Pandora as the little girl carefully pulled off bits and pieces of her muffin. She kept staring back toward the basketball and Phoebe shook her head. If Pandora playing ball in the house was the least of her worries for her youngest child, she would be happy. "I don't envy you and Paige that. So, is dad still taking Chris for the weekend?"

"Yes, and Wyatt's got some big date planned," Piper said, sipping her coffee. The thought of her angel actually being somewhat serious about a girl both excited and frightened her. Wyatt had been dating for the last couple of years, but this was the first girl that Piper had seen her son genuinely concerned about impressing. He was growing up and it was just another reminder that he was going to be leaving for college in August.

"Do tell, do tell who is my nephew seeing?" Phoebe asked.

"I only know a name, he's keeping her away from the manor. I guess he's afraid I'm going to blow her up or something." Piper smiled to herself. "Her name is Andrea and according to your nephew she's perfect," Piper said, "He's been talking about her since October." So many things had changed since October... Piper looked into her coffee cup for a moment, silent.

"Are they going to be here for dinner?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes, Wyatt, D.J. and Chris will be here. Derek had to leave for New York this morning, so he's staying here until Friday," Piper explained.

"D.J.'s nearly a Halliwell, he's here enough isn't he?" Phoebe questioned with a smile.

"That boy is a riot. Too bad he keeps coming up with ideas that keep getting Wyatt and Chris into trouble," Piper said with a small smile. She was glad that they had saved the boy from the manticores all those years ago and reunited him with his father. Derek was a good friend to her and his son was the closest thing to having another sibling as her two boys were ever going to get.

"You think all the ideas are D.J.'s? He's not the thinker in that group and you know it," Phoebe said knowingly.

Piper smiled at her sister's comment. It was just easier to blame D.J. than admitting to herself that Chris was constantly getting them into trouble. Her oldest son might have been the man of action and the impulsive one, but her youngest... Piper smiled into her coffee cup and stifled a softly amused laugh. "It's not like I didn't expect it."

"Mmm..." Phoebe said with a small remembering smile of her own. The empath could sense just a trace of regret coming from her sister though and saw the flicker of remembrance in Piper's eyes. It always seemed to come around whenever the older woman thought of the sacrifice her younger son had made by coming to the past, and how many similarities to him were now showing in the boy they had watched grow into him these last sixteen years. "I'm glad that the boys have such a good friend in D.J."

Pandora turned around in her seat and looked toward her mother and Aunt, finally speaking up, "Wyatt and Chris are playing with a demon."

Piper looked at her niece and said gently, "We don't like to call D.J. a demon Dora."

"Not D.J." the little girl said with exasperation as she rolled her eyes. "They are playing with a _demon_."

The two Charmed Ones exchanged a look with one another. Piper headed over to the table and looked down at Pandora while Phoebe poured herself another cup of coffee.

"Have they been in the underworld again?" Phoebe asked, looking at Piper.

Piper shook her head, not knowing. She crouched down next to her niece, questioning, "Dora, did you hear Wyatt and Chris talking about going somewhere?"

"No," the little girl shook her head.

"Then why are you saying that they are playing with a demon?" Piper asked.

"I saw them," Dora said matter of factly as she broke off another piece of the muffin and stuffed it into her mouth. She grabbed her glass of milk with both hands and took a sip from it.

"Saw them? Where?" Piper looked up like she expected to hear the boys doing something upstairs. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as though she could see through the floors and into the attic. If they skipped school to go fight demons, again, she was going to give them hell.

"They were in the picture in my head." She said as she sipped her milk. Dora then set her glass down and very primly picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth with it.

Both women looked at each other. Phoebe's eyebrows climbed and she set down her coffee cup before she walked over to join her sister. Piper pulled out a chair and sat down next to Dora, Phoebe sat on the opposite side of her little girl.

"Picture in your head?" Phoebe's eyes brightened as she looked at her daughter then at Piper.

"Did she just have a premonition?" Piper asked as she pushed Dora's dark hair off her forehead. The six-year-old wrinkled her nose at her Aunt and lifted a hand to her bangs to fix them. Piper looked sideways at Phoebe.

"I think she did," Phoebe said, sounding excited. She was going to be late to the meeting now, but now she didn't particularly care. Her baby girl had just had a premonition! "I was becoming discouraged when Mel or Penny didn't have my power, but Dora has it."

Phoebe couldn't wait to tell Coop. Phoebe smiled brightly, but saw Piper looking worried. She placed a hand under her daughter's chin, turning Dora to face her, "Baby, when you saw the picture in your head, what did you touch?"

"Chris' basketball," the girl answered.

Phoebe got up, walked over and picked it up. She held it in her hands and tried to will a premonition on. She looked at Piper and shrugged her shoulders as she got nothing. "It's not that I doubt her, but I'm not getting anything. Maybe she's got a different type of power, past or future?"

"Well, your premonitions grew with time, maybe hers will too," Piper said, but there was still worry in her voice and on her face. "Are you sure, Pheebs?"

"Nothing," Phoebe said, setting the basketball back on the floor.

"Mommy! I saw them, they are playing with the demon," Dora said petulantly.

There was a loud noise in the other room that had all three of them turning their heads. Piper got to her feet immediately and Phoebe narrowed her eyes, holding a finger to her daughter to stay put. The clatter turned into a familiar voice shouting.

"You got kicked out of Magic School!?"

Phoebe and Piper exchanged looks with one another at the raised voice they both recognized as belonging to their youngest sister, Paige. Another voice, younger and male chimed in immediately following hers.

"It was just a joke. I was just showing Melissa what a rattle snake looked like, but Danny screamed and the snake bit him. It wasn't my fault," the voice of Paige's adoptive son protested quietly. Henry Junior, although since last weekend he had officially decided that he no longer wanted to be known as 'Junior' but instead go by the name 'Indiana'.

"'Snakes, it had to be snakes', was _not_ the appropriate response when Danny collapsed," the voice of the exasperated mother sounded. The dark-haired boy stumbled forward clutching a battered fedora in his hands as Paige pushed him into the kitchen. The nine-year-old boy was trying not to smile. Behind him, his mother in her teacher's robe looked completely frustrated. Paige looked at her sisters and blew out a breath before plastering a fake smile on her face. "Hi! Your nephew got kicked out..."

Indy ducked his head and bit his lip, avoiding the looks from his two Aunts. Paige gave him another shove toward the table and looked at her sisters, "...again. Seventh time."

"It's only his fourth day. You've been busy," Piper said to her nephew. He looked up and smiled, dimples showing in his cheeks. Piper kissed the top of Indy's head as she hugged him. "Would you like a muffin sweetie?"

"Sure," the boy said.

Piper crossed to grab the basket of muffins, "Blueberry or chocolate chip?"

"Don't be nice to him," Paige said as she grabbed a cup of coffee. "I can't believe this. Leo's no help." Her brother-in-law was the Headmaster of Magic School and yet the man had been absolutely no help at all. She wasn't about to tell Henry that their son had been kicked out _again_. At least it was magic school, Paige told herself, instead of public school where her boy would wind up erased by the cleaners. "Your husband is absolutely no help."

"Never is Paige, he spoils them all," Piper said, smiling. She set a muffin in front of the boy and a glass of milk as he settled in next to his youngest cousin.

"Do you know what Leo said?" Paige asked. Piper and Phoebe shook their heads bit their bottom lips to stop the grins they were both suppressing. "He said, and I quote, 'It's just boys being boys Paige. Indy will settle down eventually. You just have to be patient with him.'" That had Piper chuckling, Paige made a face, "You think this is funny?"

Piper's chocolate eyes gleamed brightly. "As much as you thought my eight year old orbing off to Tanzania was funny."

"Guess I didn't get it then. I do now." Paige shook her head.

"Sorry mom, I didn't mean to get in trouble," He looked up with amused gray eyes, "again."

"You think your cute don't you?" Paige only then grinned. She couldn't resist that innocent little lopsided smile of his. He might not have been her own flesh and blood, nor was he Henry's but he still had every bit of his parent's heart. Paige looked at her sisters, "His friend was just bitten by a rattle snake and do you know what he said?"

"Snakes, it had to be snakes." Piper said with a smile. She patted the boy on the head and ruffled his hair, "Indy, you need to stop drawing pictures of things that could cause death and destruction. I heard what you did to your Dad last weekend..."

Indy smiled at his Aunt Piper, he knew he could draw just about anything for her and she would find it impressive. Aunt Piper and her sons were the only ones who weren't afraid of his drawings. Indy took a big bite out of his muffin, more pleased than he was ashamed. Piper shook her head in amusement. She looked to Phoebe who appeared as though she was about to burst as she walked over to Paige and took the younger woman by the arm.

"Guess what? Dora had her first premonition!" Phoebe said with the kind of excitement of a mother whose child took her first steps.

"Premonition!" Paige exclaimed, the subject turning away from her trouble-making child, "And you were worried."

Piper interrupted the excitement with the downside, "Except she just saw Chris and Wyatt and a demon."

"If they were in trouble I'd have heard them call for me. So I don't think they are in any trouble now." Paige said as she watched Piper look at her niece.

"Good." Piper nodded but still she looked a little hesitant.

Paige tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Do you want me to run over to the school?"

"Oh no, that's alright, I'm sure they're fine. If they aren't calling you, then they must be fine," Piper said.

"Alright." Paige sipped her coffee. "Can I leave Indy here? Henry is at work and..."

Piper held up a hand to stop her youngest sister. There was no explanation needed, "Sure. The three of us will have a great time. Right?" Piper smiled at Indy. She was the only one who could really deal with the little boy and his drawings. She just froze them while he tore up the picture to make them disappear.

"Indy can you draw me a puppy?" Dora asked her older cousin. Henry Junior opened his mouth to answer--

"NO!" Paige yelled, cutting off the response. The ten-year-old sunk lower in his chair, quietly eating his muffin. Paige put her hands to her temples and rubbed them, "I think my son has drawn quite enough today. I'm going to go back and see if I can't talk your professors into letting you back in... again..." Paige finished off her coffee, set the empty cup on the table, and then she kissed her son on the head. The little boy smiled impishly and his mother only looked at her sisters, "Piper, call me if you need anything, and Phoebe... congratulations..." She bent to look at her neice, "Dora, you have no idea how happy you just made your mother." Kissing the little girl on the cheek, Paige orbed out.

Piper looked towards Phoebe who simply shrugged, still beaming at her little girl. A heartbeat later, Paige orbed back in and fixed her son with a gaze, "You behave yourself, understand?"

"Yes m'am," Indy said sincerely, "Scouts honor."

"You're not a boy scout," Paige said with a small smile and an upraised eyebrow.

"Witch's honor?"

"It'll have to do," Paige said and then she was gone again in a swirl of orbs.

"Pheebs, you're going to be late to your meeting," Piper said, looking at the clock.

"Oh, shoot!" the younger woman said, she hugged her daughter, "Alright baby, I'll be back this afternoon. Piper, are you sure you don't want me to stick around in case that premonitio---"

"Paige said the boys weren't calling for her, I'm sure it'll be alright," Piper said, "Now scoot!"

Phoebe flashed a grin at her sister, grabbed another muffin from the basket on the way out and hurried off. Piper watched her go and then sat down at the table with her niece and nephew. The Halliwell matriarch smiled at the young boy, "So, a snake, huh? You know, your cousin Wyatt conjured a dragon once..."

"Oh, I drew a dragon last weekend," the boy said, "It was just a little one though. In crayon. On the wall. Dad made me wash it off." Piper shook her head at her nephew, smiling slightly, but inside she was still worrying and wondering just what it was Pandora had seen.

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**Author's Note: **Don't you just love Henry Jr. excuse me, don't you just love "Indy"? The boy is a handful to be sure. If you haven't read the oneshot that he terrorizes his father in, then I highly recommend it. But, here you go, a taste of some of the other family members and what is going on in the outside world while Chris and Wyatt are stuck dealing with their own crisis. Post your reviews, click the button, encourage more writing and inspire my Muse.


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